Valentine Special - Muji Strawberry Gateau Chocolat

It's (almost) Valentine's Day, so I figured I should post a valentine-themed recipe of sorts. This is something that should still be available in any Muji outlets near you, the Muji make-it-yourself Strawberry Gateau Chocolat baking kit!

Don't worry, it's not very hard to make.

The instructions are all in Japanese though...

If you're lucky, you may find outlets that provide translations of the recipe. In my case I had to have someone translate the recipe for me. 8D;; For the sake of those who lack the translation, I shall write down the list of ingredients and steps needed to bake this delicious treat.

The kit contains the strawberry gateau chocolat mix (85g), strawberry chocolate (30g), powdered sugar (5g), baking mould, and 6 pieces of clear gift bags. Other ingredients you have to prepare yourselves are:

•  1 large/medium-sized egg
• 45ml milk 
• 40g unsalted butter (salted butter & margarine are fine as well)

Tools that are required (but not entirely necessary) for the baking are:

• An oven (or a microwave oven with a convection oven setting. This thing's necessary, lol)
• 2 large bowls
• 1 small bowl
• 1 balloon whisk
• 1 silicone spatula (wooden is fine too)
• 1 big measuring spoon (or measuring cups)
• a weighing machine
• bamboo skewers (or wooden toothpicks which work the same way, I think)
• a wire rack for cooling
• a knife to slice the cake
• a wire sieve for dusting the cake with the powdered sugar

Now for the instructions. Before starting, make sure everything is measured/weighed and laid out. Make sure the egg and milk are at room temperature. Take any pans out of the oven and preheat it to 160ºC. Also, boil some water (80ºC) for a water bath (for melting stuff, not for bathing, lol).

Now that we're prepared, let's start the cooking process!

1. In a small bowl, put the 40g butter and the 30g strawberry chocolate into it, and place the bowl into the 80ºC water bath to melt the butter and chocolate.

2. In a large bowl, crack the egg and beat it, then pour the 45ml milk into that bowl and lightly mix the two.
3. Add the strawberry gateau chocolat (SGC) mix into the same large bowl and mix those 3 ingredients until the mixture is white and smooth. This would take about 2 minutes.

4. Back to the small bowl with the butter and strawberry chocolate, use the spatula to scoop the melted butter & chocolate into the large bowl with the SGC mixture. Mix them well.
5. Pour the resulting mixture into the provided paper baking mould. Put it on a pan and bake it in the oven at 160ºC for approximately 30-35 minutes. Use a bamboo skewer to check if the cake is undercooked (by poking the centre of the cake and checking if it picks up any uncooked cake mix).




I didn't use a pan, lol


When it's done cooking, leave the cake to cool on the cooling rack. You can expect it to sink a little. When the cake is cool, peel off the sides of the paper mould.




It actually sank a little!


Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the cake, and the cake is done!

I did not have the proper sieve..

Phew, now that the cake is finished, you may have a taste!

Eat first, share later!

The Muji strawberry gateau chocolat is actually quite nice! The cake is not too thick, and it tastes real pleasant. I actually made this cake last year, and I was really happy this baking set returned this year (for the Valentine's season)! Muji also sells regular chocolate gateau chocolat baking sets, but I have not tried those yet. (I just like strawberry-flavoured cakes)

Wrapped in the provided gift bags, I think these heart-shaped cakes would make nice gifts for your loved ones, or friends, or for yourselves, lol

They were swiftly polished up soon after.

Before I forget, credit for translating the instructions at the back of the box goes to my sister! Thanks, sister! 8D